Vacheron Constantin

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A Toast to the 1950’s!!

Collecting vintage Vacheron Constantin watches has been one of the high points of my collecting history. I had focused on round watches from the 1940’s through the 1960’s, but it is the middle part of that era that I think I would call Vacheron Constantin’s golden decade. The combination of design with craftsmanship, along with what I find to be a number of watches of good size, even in the modern era, make this a special period. Some of my favorites from my vintage Vacheron Constantin collection included the Chronometer Royal (from a case design started in 1955 that celebrated the brands 200th anniversary:

Several self-winding pieces:

And my XXL:

There were many more!

I don’t think it is any coincidence that the1950’s are the most represented period in Vacheron Constantin’s current Historiques collection with three models, the Toledo 1951, the Aronde 1954, and the Ultra-fine 1955, the years denoting the date of introduction for a particular design.

One drawback in collecting vintage watches is having to worry about both the authenticity and service history of any particular piece. Buyer beware applies, with the safest bet being those few pieces that Vacheron Constantin has restored and sold through selected VC boutiques. Servicing vintage pieces can be expensive, and it is certainly time consuming (That late 1950’s XXL will have taken one year to return to me). For that reason I appreciate Vacheron Constantin giving collectors the opportunity to get the best of vintage design in new watches and have all the advantages that modern manufacturing can bring.

The Toledo 1951 is my latest infatuation, primarily due to my coming to appreciate form watches (all my watches to date have been round). I spilled a lot of words and got some good photos of it on it with a recent review:  vacheron.watchprosite.com , so I won’t repeat myself

But I have had the chance to get it side by side with the next model (by timeline) in the Historiques family, the Aronde 1954.

The Aronde 1954 is a sexy piece, with the curves along the sides of the case giving the watch another nickname: Lips!

This watch doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and it is rarely seen either in retail showcases or on the the watch forums. So in my attempt to remedy this neglect, some photos:

The dial is is a silvered gold base, with hand guilloche linear stripes that divide the dial into four quadrants which reflect light in a hypnotic way.

The movement inside is Vacheron Constantin’s calibre 1400, which is hidden behind a solid case back. It is one the most satisfying of movements to wind up as it most closely captures the sound and feel of winding up Vacheron Constantin’s vintage calibre 453, the brand’s workhorse movement of the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Though I wish I could have gotten the Ultra-fine 1955 next to the other two above for the Historiques 1950’s trifecta, I’ll have to settle for some older photos.

I would be thrilled with any or all of these three watch. Does anyone out there have all of them?

Bill

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